Heart Surgery

Quick update: my dad met with the heart surgeon on Wednesday.  After reviewing all the results, it appears he will be able to repair his mitral valve. He will have a replacement on hand just in case anything goes wrong though. The surgery will be on March 23 at noon. Should last about 4 hours. He will spend the next two or so days in the ICU and then be moved to a regular unit. Overall hospital stay will be anywhere from 5-7 days. While he's in the operating room, they will put him on life support. Therefore once they start his heart, they will be able to get it back into rhythm.  Once he comes home, he'll have 2 weeks with 24 hour supervision - provided by my mom and I. 

Am I nervous? scared? worried? relieved? yes. Do they do this every day? yes. Is there a mortality rate? yes, but it's small... like 2%. Over all will it be worth it? Yes. 6-8 weeks of recovery is certainly worth another 30 years of quality life.  My dad doesn't seem to be nervous at all, and if he is... he certainly isn't showing it. The surgeon he has chosen is highly recommended and comes with thousands of surgeries under his belt.  He is also known for the starting Cardiac Center at St. Joseph's and known for developing several different surgical methods.  He will be in the best possible care while there.  He's even studied state of the art heart surgery in France. Which means --- he's speaks fluent french! What more could you want in a heart doctor....

When my brother was down last weekend, as a precaution, he and my dad went through "the drawer". Not sure if anyone's ever heard of this saying, but the drawer is where the wills are kept and anything else my brother would need should something happen. That is a scary thought. Tomorrow night at 9, my brother, sister and I have a conference call scheduled to discuss how we are going to handle this. Maybe we'll even create a power point to share with others! Sorry, I have to keep this light or else the air will get thick with worry.